The conservation of Britain's limestone cave resource

 Limestone caves are an important scientific and recreational resource in Britain. During the mid- to late 1970s, cavers and statutory conservation bodies cooperated in a review of cave resources which resulted in the designation of 48 caves or cave areas as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). During the same period, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 was introduced to provide more effective planning controls on activities such as agriculture carried out within SSSI boundaries. In one case, at Priddy in the Mendip Hills of Somerset, landowners prevented access to a number of caves in protest over the new, tougher restrictions on agriculture. Faced with the closure, and perceiving that their recreational use of caves might also be controlled, local cavers joined the landowners in opposing the proposals for SSSI designation. As a result the proposals were reviewed, three caves were excluded from the site and controls on the remaining area were relaxed. The case emphasized a need for an effective system to take account of all factors affecting cave conservation, a need which has led to a more constructive dialogue between nature conservation bodies, caver organizations and other interested parties. Received: 1 June 1995 · Accepted: 4 December 1995     

The recognition of the Asbian/Brigantian boundary fauna and marker horizons in the Dinantian of North Wales

For the first time the stratigraphically important brachiopod Davidsonina septosa (Phillips) has been located in thickly bedded pale grey, late Asbian limestones in North Wales. Above these limestones are thinly bedded dark grey Brigantian limestones, which have yielded a rich and diverse coral-brachiopod fauna, including Lonsdaleia floriformis (Martin). The Girvanella Nodular Bed is recorded for the first time in this region, some distance above the base of the Brigantian. The boundary between the two major lithofacies is marked by a prominent palaeokarstic surface and coincides with a significant faunal change, both in the macrofauna and microfauna that serves to identify the boundary between the Asbian and Brigantian Stages. The discovery within late Dinantian successions of certain diagnostic corals, brachiopods, and algae outside their accepted restricted stratigraphical ranges, casts doubt on their reliable use as Asbian or Brigantian zone fossils.     

广东石灰岩地区的任豆群落

本文对任豆群落的分布及生境特点，主要种群的生物不特性，其种类组成，外貌，结构，动态进行了分析，将其分为三个群落类型加以介绍，并提出开发利用与保护意义。     

Soiling of limestone in an urban environment characterized by heavy vehicular exhaust emissions

The inorganic and organic chemical composition of weathering sulphate patinas on the limestone walls of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, UK, have been analysed by FT-IR spectroscopy, pyrolysis gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry and scanning electron microscopy. The College location is characterized by heavy vehicular exhaust emissions including those from diesel powered public transport vehicles due to its proximity to the main Cambridge coach station. A complex mixture of gaseous and particulate air pollutants are found deposited in the weathering patinas including organic compounds (such as PAHs), which represent markers for present-day vehicular pollution. Slight differences in composition between patinas collected at different heights on the building facades with, in particular, more evidence for a biogenic overprint in samples collected at roof level as opposed to ground (street) level are found. Analytical results confirm how building stones in urban areas acted in the past and still do today as passive repositories for any kind of gaseous and particulate air pollutant present in the surrounding atmosphere; accordingly, weathering patinas are slowly changing their composition to accommodate new classes of present-day air pollutants.     

Bioprotection explored: the story of a little known earth surface process

Bioprotection is identified as an earth surface process. However, it has been little studied, little acknowledged and yet may have major implications for the operation and management of geomorphic systems. Key early observations are traced back to Darwin's ‘Voyage of the Beagle’, Geikie in the natural environment and Watson for the built environment. Recent field observations and experimental work examining bioprotection are reviewed, with a specific focus on lichens and the landscape, as are its complex interactions with other processes. A conceptual model of bioprotection is presented for the case of an epilithic lichen on a limestone surface.     

Recharge and salination processes in the carbonate aquifers in Israel

Limestone and dolostone aquifers play a major role in the water supply system of Israel. In many cases, there are brackish to saline springs at their outlets. The source of the saline water and the mechanism of salinization differ from place to place. In some cases, it is due to mixing with seawater (Mediterranean or Dead Sea) at the fresh-saline water interface, while in other cases deepseated brines emerge along regional faults. The general policy for reclaiming the fresh component of the water before mixing with the saline component is to try to catch the fresh water as far as possible upstream from the outlet. In most cases, this is the area where the mixing takes place. The main case histories in Israel are discussed in this paper.     

Ten year remeasurement of chemical denudation on a magnesian limestone hillslope

Results from the measurement of microweight loss of Magnesian Limestone rock tablets placed at the soil–bedrock interface on a hillslope over 10 years (1982–1992) gave the same relative pattern of upslope increase in weight loss as did short-term measurements (1979–1981), but the absolute values were an order of magnitude lower (0·01–0·03 per cent per year long term and 0·1–0·6 per cent per year short term). Microweighed rock tablets may therefore give unreliable absolute rates and can only be used to indicate relative spatial differences rather than to give reliable data on temporal changes.     

Acid rain damage to carbonate stone: A quantitative assessment based on the aqueous geochemistry of rainfall runoff from stone

An onsite experimental procedure was used to identify and quantify acid rain damage to carbonate stone, based on the change in rain runoff chemical composition. Observed changes in runoff from stone are attributed to the interaction of acidic species present in the rain with the stone surface. Onsite data obtained during the summer and fall of 1984 at three locations in the northeastern United States indicate that carbonate stone surface recession is related to acid deposition. Although the study is continuing, current data are not adequate to distinguish differences in the acid-stone reaction between limestone and marble nor among the three study sites. A single linear relation between carbonate stone surface recession (the dependent variable) and hydrogen ion loading to the stone surface (the independent variable) appears to describe the data set.     

Chemical denudation on a magnesian limestone hillslope,field evidence and implications for modelling

The pattern of relative denudation at the soil-bedrock interface over a wooded Magnesian Limestone hillslope was investigated using micro-weight loss bedrock tablets. The resulting pattern of weight loss after emplacement for one year indicated a consistent upslope increase in solutional denudation. Results from tablets emplaced for two years confirmed this. Dye tracing and gypsum sphere weight loss results showed that water movement over the slope was by vertical percolation and not by throughflow. The pattern of solutional denudation was related to changes in soil type and associated changes in soil pH. Continued slope development by solutional denudation will ultimately lead to slope decline. Comparison with a similar study suggests that a general soil chemistry based model of hillslope solutional denudation can be proposed.     

闽西石灰岩洞穴地质特征及其石笋发育过程的古气候变化

本文以宁化县天鹅洞和永定县仙湖洞为代表介绍闽西石灰岩洞穴地质特征，并通过石笋 ＾１４Ｃ、铀系年代测量等研究成果探讨石笋发育过程的古气候和石笋生长速度。